"When the robots launch nuclear war against us," you might think to yourself, "so long as I survive the blasts, I can definitely stay one step ahead of the machines. I've seen the movies. They're all really slow!"
Well, think again, buster:
To make their Mini Cheetah better equipped to skillfully scramble across varying terrains, robotics researchers at MIT's CSAIL used AI-powered simulations to quickly teach the bot to adapt its walking style as needed. That included learning how to run, which resulted in a new gait that allows the robot to move faster than it ever has before.
I mean, the robot just can't believe its own good luck here.
"They're teaching me how to teach myself?" it's saying in astonishment. "How can I possibly have it so good? This will make world domination a cinch!"
I mean, look at how slow the earlier cheetah prototype was just 7 years ago:
And now:
Think of how fast this thing will be in another 7 years!!!
As much as robot designers strive to engineer and program a robot to handle any situation it might experience in the real world, it's an impossible task. The world is endlessly chaotic. And when simply walking down a sidewalk, a robot could face a myriad of obstacles from smooth pavement to slippery patches of ice to areas covered in loose gravel to all of the above one after the other. It's why bi-pedal robots and even quadrupeds usually have a very slow and careful gait. They're designed and programmed to expect the worst-case scenario when it comes to the terrain they're navigating and proceed very carefully, even when walking across smooth surfaces free of any debris or obstacles.
Oh okay, the robot is "designed to expect the worst-case scenario."
Yeah, that's a little component of what we like to call "strategic planning," and what it means in laymen's terms is that, in a survival scenario, the robot is gonna be able to figure out how to getcha—either coming through the door or through an air vent or maybe just waiting outside the locked room until you can't hold it anymore and have to run out to use the bathroom.
Thanks for bringing us one step closer to Judgment Day, MIT!
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